Hyundai Elantra Real World MPG 2011 MY and earlier

Comments

Your problem is your short commute and stop & go traffic. The car is just getting warmed up when you are at your destination. If your stop & go traffic is extreme recognise that you are constantly accelerating with little cruising. Your occassional hour drive on a parkway will not make a big difference in a tank of gas which otherwise consists of your daily short haul stop & go.

Is not the definition of the "city" rating "stop & go traffic" (i.e., traffic lights and stop signs)? The City rating is 29 mpg and I get only 22 mpg.

My previous car was a 2007 Nissan Sentra 2.0S. It was rated at 25 to 33 mpg. With the same driving patterns as with 2011 Hyundai Elantra GLS, at 11,000 miles, I was averaging 25 mpg. I guess that means that Nissan's mpg ratings are accurate and Hyundai's are inflated. I wish I would have known that before I bought the car.

Yes, but when an engine is cold - really until it reaches full normal operating temperature - the ECU runs a richer fuel-air mixture. More fuel is burned to keep the engine running smoothly, avoid knocks/pings, and bring the engine up to temp quickly. With your short commute the engine is not reaching full operating temp so the ECU never switches over to the leaner fuel-air mix.

It's entirely possibly that Hyundai's and Nissan's engineers have different programming standards and different ways of handling their particular engine's characteristics.

I'm not making excuses for Hyundai, nor do I think Nissan's tech is necessarily better. Just trying to explain the problem with a short commute and that different manufacturers will have different approaches to engine management.

When you have some extra time, try running the car until the temp is full normal, and then some for a few minutes to make sure. Then reset the trip computer and see what mileage you attain.

2013 Elantra GLS, auto. After 5K miles and reading allot of posts about this car's MPG I think something is clear: your city mpg will vary between 22 to 24, while your highway will be around 34 to 35 (mile marker to mile marker, once at speed on a flat road) Combined = 27. Hyundai's claimed MPG estimate 15% overstated in city driving and 10% overstated on the highway measured by the ACTUAL FUEL USED / MILES DRIVEN. My 2007 Sonata gave me 17 city and 32 highway and a combined 23. My dealer confirmed this.

Hyundai gears its trannys to give high mpg's on the highway, but at the sacrifice of really bad mpg's in acceleration and in stop and go city driving. And those really bad city mpg's rapidly decrease a much larger number of highway mile mpgs. THE REDUCTION IN COMBINED MILEAGE HAPPENS FAST!

Just so it's clear. Every car for sale in the U.S. goes through the same exact EPA tests for both city and hwy. They are accelerated the same, braked the same, driven the same speeds, go through the same amount of simulated stop lights, etc etc etc. It's not the manufacturer's test...it's the EPA's test. The manufactures have to test them in strict accordance to the EPA criteria and the EPA randomly does there own tests to verify the manufactures. So the claims are the manufacturers but they are derived from the EPA test and not some arbitrary manufactures test. The EPA test is not just heavy, stop and go urban traffic simulation. It's a combination of urban, suburban, light blvd etc to simulate "city" driving in Des Moines as well as New York. They are both city driving but can substantially different mpg results. So they try to reach a compromise to give you an idea of what kind of a range you might expect. You have to apply your conditions and decide if you are probably at the bottom or top of the range for your expectations.

That said, it would be almost impossible for the average consumer to exactly match all the driving conditions that the test is made up of. If you actually read the EPA sticker it will give a range for city and a range for hwy with a number somewhere in between each boldly printed. I don't know what the exact numbers are on the Elantra but it is probably something like 22-32 for city and 34-42 for hwy. What that means is that if you drive only a few miles each way to work through a lot of urban stop and go traffic, your mpg will probably be at the very lowest end of the city range which would be around 22 or 23. That kind of driving is about the worse you can get.

It's been stated often that the Elantra doesn't have a lot of torque or grunt off the line. If someone was used to a certain amount of speed when taking off with their old car they may just push the gas pedal a little harder in the Elantra to get that same feeling of grunt or speed off the line. That will affect MPG greatly and possibly explain why another car may have performed as well as the Elantra even though it's mpg ratings were lower as estimated by the EPA.

I just purchased my Elantra last week, and averaged 31.9 mpg. Please note that the majority of my driving is hwy - 60-65mph and I do use the cruise control, as well as have it in ECO-mode. I've read alot of the posts and reflect back when I purchased my '06 Civic, which at the time EPA MPG 30-City and 40-Hwy, and I too was disappointed in the beginning when I wasn't achieving that mileage that had been posted on the window sticker. Several factors played into: 1. City driving - living in San Francisco, with it's many hills and numerous signal lights, I was achieving 23 mpg. 2. The break-in period for the car's engine. One has to take that factor into consideration. Once my car had acquired close to/over 10k miles, I noticed the mpg improved. I sold it to a friend of mine earlier this year and he liked the fact that I was getting mid-30's city/hwy combined driving, and achieved as high as 47.8 mpg straight hwy - driving from Sacramento to San Francisco, Bay Area - not bad for it not being a hybrid or diesel. Lastly, if you keep your car cleaned (washed regularly and waxed a couple of times a year), as a smooth finish allows the air to flow smoothly over the vehicle, thus reducing drag, keep your oil changed on a regular basis, clean air filters and proper tire inflation, will all contribute to improvement to your mpg. Heck, I got 31.9 my first week, and its only got a little over 200 miles on the OD, I'm anticipating continued improvements in my mpg as my car ages. I'm quite please with Elantra; quite the car for the small price - nice standard features that aren't usually found in this class of car. :shades: Best of luck to everyone!

A reporter would like to speak to Hyundai and Kia owners who agree or disagree with the latest controversy over MPG. If you own a Hyundai or a Kia and would like to speak to a reporter about your experience with your car's fuel economy, please send your daytime and evening contact info to pr@edmunds.com no later than Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET.

I sold my 2010 Elantra Touring to the dealer and purchased a 2013 Elantra GT and I feel so cheated! My 2010 was such a lemon but was not told by service how to turn it in as such. Then it broke down on me after the 60,000 mile warranty went off and all I could do is get rid of it. I wanted the 60,000 mile warranty so went back to Hyundai. BIG MISTAKE!!!! The MPG is such a joke! Because I had a 2010 and moving into a 2013 driving the same route same type of car they can't blame it on the driver!!!! The average combined driving 90-95% is freeway (I drive 90 miles rt to work/school 3 times a week) the 2010 Elantra was averaging 27MPG when I did all freeway 30MPG only a few times in 62,000 miles. My 2013 Elantra GT is getting 29-31 and all freeway the couple of times I did it is only 32. I would have thought it would be over 35MPG on a regular basis but never have been over 33 which was briefly.

where do we go for help their reimbursement for me is only $43 dollars what a joke that is about what I lose every month I drive the car and since I bought the 10 year warranty I didn't plan to sell anytime soon.

I will get $66 back on 16,500 miles.driven on my 2011 Elantra that I leased. That is about 1.5 tanks of gas. I like the car, but feel I was misled, I probably would not have leased the car if the true mileage was advertised. When driving a combo of city and highway driving, I seldom average more than 26 mpg. Based on manufacturer's claims, I would have expected 32 mpg on average. For those driving more highway miles, they probably do better. On a trip to the eastern shore, I got 39 mpg. However, when averaging all miles driven, the car calculates efficiency at about 24.5 miles per gallon. How did they come up with the number of miles for calculating the refund? Does anyone know?

I think basically because they only had to lower their mileage estimates by 2 mpg (rather than 15), they only have to pay people the difference in 12 miles per tank of gas (roughly a 12 gallon tank). Its more cover up from them. I hope every state takes them to court in class action lawsuits. I want my money back. I never ever would have even looked at this car with the lousy mileage I get.

I just activated my gas card. I had to laugh that Hyundai calls it a reward card. Reward for what?? I got a whopping 104.00 for 26000 miles of poor gas mileage. Every time I use this debit card I am telling the people at the register exactly why I got it. Hyundai mislead their customers and got away with it. I will tell everyone not to buy a Hyundai. There are a lot of reward (??) cards given out and a lot of people we could tell. spread the word! My mileage peaked at 24.4 mpg today. Hooray

I agree the reward is a joke. I have received about $60 for 16000 mile of bad gas mileage. Hyundai either lied or was just wrong. I have went through the whole process. I waited to get more miles so the car would get broke in, I had the checked several times, I had it aligned, I tried more air in my tires and everything else they have told me to do. The gas mileage is not what they claim. I get at the most 30 on a trip and about 26 combination and that's the best. I won't own another Hyundai.